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Excursions

We are headed to CTI in June, and were wondering about the additional excursions that are offered. We were interested in the horseback ride, and zipline. They both sound like fun, but I was wondering what exactly it entails? Is it worth it? Also the dolphin swim sounds amazing and like a once in a lifetime opppurtunity, but its really expensive. Has anyone done this? Is it worth it? I'm a bit of a chicken and not a very good swimmer, would you suggest it for someone like me? I'm a bit hestitant since its so expensive, but I really want to try it out! I know my husband would love it and I don't want to hold him back so I would like to try and go for it! Any feedback would be very appreciated!

CTI does not offer the horseback riding in its included excursions. We have done it through an outfit called Hooves and had a great time. A beautiful ride through a plantation with an awesome ride in the ocean. Haven't tried the zipline or swim with the dolphins. Friends of ours have done the ziplining and highly recommend it.

I don't want to be a "Debbie Downer" but I would avoid swimming with dolphins anywhere. Watch the documentary called "The Cove" (which won an Oscar) and decide for yourself. I swam with dolpins in Mexico and it wasn't that great anyways....they are way nicer to see when they are free and in the wild. Save your money...go on a boat ride instead and maybe you'll get lucky and see some. If I knew what I know now when I was in Mexico, I would have avoided the dolphin swim.
Please enjoy your vacation, I don't want to bum anyone out...just thought you should know.

All of the excursions I had mentioned would be at an additional cost that Couples has offered, I am assuming through some outside company, at least that is what came up when I made my reservation. I am thinking for sure we will do the horseback ride and zipline one, but I think my biggest concern is the dolphin swim. It super expensive, and I just don't know if it would be worth all that money!!!! I really need someone's opinion that has done this one. Also any more info on the two others would be helpful, like how long is it, where do you go, is there food/beverages, and any other info that you think might be helpful to me. Thanks so much everyone for your replies so far!!!

I went to Dunn's Falls last year while we were stopped in Ochos Rios on a cruise, and it was the highlight of our trip!! We had a wonderful guide take us up the falls, and while it was a little scary at times walking up the slippery rocks holding hands of total strangers, it was exhilarating at the same time. I was next to a very cute couple in their 70s or 80s who made me a little nervous (I was so worried one of them would take a tumble), but we all made it up the falls in one piece! A great time, and be sure to bring a waterproof camera or camcorder. I would definitely recommend doing it. BUT beware of the folks selling things! They were quite pushy, but since we were expecting it, I wasn't too shocked or scared at the time. Go out the entrance to avoid the pushiest of the sellers when you're ready to go. Even with that said, you should go!

We left CSS about 10 am and got back about 1230. It was about a 15 minute bus ride . We went on a Sunday which was a good day as there weren't any cruise ships in port. You have a couple of guides that lead everyone up the falls and you hold hands. I really didn't want to do that but I soon realized that it was easier that way. Everyone kind of helped eachother as it was more difficult than I thought it would be. Maybe I'm just out of shape ( that's for sure!) The rocks are slippery of course and the water temperature is definitely eye opening and refreshing! They videotape the whole trip so you can purchase the DVD for 40 dollars if you want.
The vendors in the shopping area at the end can be aggressive so if you want to avoid that, stay to the left I think, it was 3 years ago so I'm not positive. We left our towels on the bus and our stuff was fine. The guides will ask for a tip and they deserve one so bring some cash. I think we tipped 10 bucks. Would I do it again? No but it was fun. Bring water shoes!

Also, I am not sure what is meant by cplwholovesjamaica's comment. Is that bad or good? I may feel more safe with tamed dolphins, since I can barely swim, and a little scared about sea creatures!

I saw a video on youtube where a group that were scuba diving at the resort (included) were joined by a few dolphins. Dolphins are not vicious creatures. I wouldn't be afraid of them. How much cooler to see them in the wild and have close contact with them, as compared to seeing them in a cage.

K. So the question still remains, is the dolphin swim worth it? I have no experience in any of these kinds of things and would love some direction. I am thinking we will do the zipline and horseback, but would still love feedback on those as well just to make sure I am not wasting my money. I am definetly planning on Dunns River Falls, since it is included there doesn't seem to be any reason not to do it! Also, if there is any other suggestions of excursions that couples doesn't have listed, I would love to hear about those too! I want to make the most of our time there. I don't necessarily want to spend all our time on the resort, and would love to see other parts of the island.

We did the Mystic Mountain Rainforest Sky Explorer Chairlift, Bobsled and Zipline adventure a few years ago. I believe it was around $125pp. The chair lift was a beautiful easy going trip up and down. If I had to do it all over again I would have stayed on the lift up and down a couple of extra times. The bobsled was basically a small roller coaster but was a lot of fun flying through jungle. You're only supposed to get 1 ride but that day the staff let us around the turnstiles for a free second ride. The ziplining part was fabulous. Don't recall how many zips but wish there were twice as many it was so much fun. One of the couples with us was extremely afraid of heights and we were not even sure why they came had no trouble at all with any of the zips. Never at any time did we feel unsafe. They do have a gift shop, restaurant/bar and infinity pool at the top. We wished we had brought our suits and towels to change into and soak in the pool over looking Ocho Rios. Instead we waited for 90 minutes at the bottom picking our (fill in your preferred picking spot) for the shuttle bus to take us back to the resort.

I haven't been yet but I can say this. If its on your "bucket list" can you really put a value on getting to mark it off? You may never get another opertunity so good or bad or not worth it really depends on you.

I honestly don't know whats on my bucket list! I want to do so much, but we only have a week there! And I have no idea when we will ge this oppurtunity again. Idealy, I would like to make an annual vacation with just me and my hubby, but with 4 small children, who know is that will really happen. I hope as they get older it will be easier. In the meantime, I am jsut trying to decide which things are worth the money, and then narrow it down to a few! Any more feedback and suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Hi..We wanted to do the dolphin experience too but after reading the TA reviews backed out.
Don't really want to pay that much money if most of the time I will be waiting for a 5 min turn.
Sure its a once of in a lifetime experience but I am sure we will have a chance to do it in another vacation.
A lot of people say its cheaper in other places and you get more time.

I'm not a green peace activist or anything but personally I would not have any pleasure swimming with the dolphins in captivity but this is my personal opinion so doesn't mean you have to agree... But I would spend that money elsewhere unless this is at the top of your bucket list.
Anyway, if you're still interested in doing this, you will find '' swimming with dolphins '' are available in most Caribbean resorts not only in Jamaica so you will still probably have a chance to do this later if you plan to travel towards this region in the future. So probably you can keep that in mind too if you can't make that decision on this trip?!

Can't comment on horseback ride and Zip line as we haven't done this before but Dunn's River is totally worth it, especially as it's included at CTI- it feels very tropical with beautiful scenery and I loved it! Try to pick the date when cruise ships are not in port if possible as it could get extremely busy...

I don't know if you're into Reggae much but we really enjoyed Bob Marley Mausoleum in Nine Mile. We're not so much of a raggae fun ourselves either but we got into Bob Marley;s music after travelling to Jamaica 4 times and really enjoyed this trip. It will be well worth it even just to learn about the Rastafarian culture (all the guides there are Rastafarians and even a bricklayer who happened to be working on the pavements was a Rastafarian with dread lock and he posed for our camera, very friendly) and not to forget the beautiful scenery on the way there - you will see the real Jamaica!

Whatever the decision you make, I'm sure you will have a fantastic time in Jamaica and CTI - we did! Enjoy!!